Intergovernmental Cooperation in a Decentralised System: the Sectoral Conferences in Spain

One of the challenges of decentralised systems is ensuring intergovernmental cooperation. This paper attempts to shed some light on the conditions that bring about cooperation between central and sub-national governments. Drawing on extensive data based on the Spanish case, empirical findings show that factors that have a bearing on cooperation are associated with non-tangible assets of intergovernmental relations (such as informal contacts among representatives) or more general and long-term political dynamics. Public practitioners have little room to modify these conditions, which highlight the limitations of administrative reforms to promote intergovernmental relations.